Best Flatbed Scanners in the UK

The Epson Workforce DS-1660 doubles as both as a flatbed and a sheet-feed model, something that scanners within this entry-level price range can seldom boast. With its 50-page ADF, automatically feeding documents and supporting automatic duplex scanning, this device will streamline moderate scanning tasks and easily fit small office needs. Sure, because the machine comes equipped with only one CIS (contact image sensor), it is pretty slow at two-sided scanning but the fact that this device can do that to begin with is already quite impressive.

Taking the above into account, you would presume that this model would be anything but compact. Nevertheless, at 451‎ x 315 x 120 millimetres and weighing less than 4 kilogrammes, this device commands the smallest footprint among its peers, occupying almost no spaces and enabling easy relocation.

Compared to the said peers, the model incorporates sparse, minimalist controls, featuring three buttons (Power, Cancel, and Start) and two status-displaying LEDs. As you can imagine, you will not be doing much with these buttons. Instead, you'll be using the company's Document Capture Pro software, setting the scan resolution, file type, and destination. The program will let you establish multiple profiles that will contain these settings. The program's management features will also allow you to save scans to a file, email, or the cloud. Last but not least, its optical character recognition (OCR) is more accurate than you would expect, whereas the NewSoft Presto! BizCard software will enable scanning and archiving business cards as contact management data. Of course, with the latter, the accuracy will depend on the card complexity, meaning that you'll have more success with simple white cards without graphics and complicated backgrounds than with the opposite.

The Epson Perfection V550 is not perfect. As far as we're aware, perfect scanners do not exist. Still, we can let the name slide because this is one impressive machine and as close to perfection as any within its class. Plus, solid photo/film scanners that do not break the bank are almost extinct nowadays, so, again, the name transgression is forgivable.

But, before figuring out and discussing what makes this device so solid, let's start with the basics. Measuring 485 x 280‎ x 118 millimetres and weighing a little below 4.5 kilogrammes, this is not the most compact unit, not quite. At the same time, considering 6,400 dpi maximum optical resolution, the size makes sense and, to some extent, even becomes quite modest. The machine can scan four 35-millimetre slides, two rows holding six negatives each, as well as medium-format films using the removable transparency unit. To add more, the model enables scanning multiple prints simultaneously, with the automatic edge detection tech automatically (duh) detecting the image's size, cropping this image accordingly, and saving it as an individual file.

Not unlike its predecessors, the Perfection V550 adopts Digital ICE, the company's hardware-based solution that digitally removes dust and scratches, enabling accurate film scanning. Besides that, the device also offers software-based tools that remove dust but, as you would expect, the hardware-based Digital ICE tech is more effective, thus more preferable.

The Canon CanoScan LiDE 400 will cost you less than 90 quid. Considering the price, its attractive appearance and decent specs come as a nice surprise. Making the appearance point first, the model's matte finish with straight-line patterns is an interesting change from the standard glossy coating that most scanners are adopting these days. From where we're standing, the finish makes this device more visually expressive, charming, and refined. Plus, the grainy texture makes fingerprints and scratches less noticeable.

Looking down, you'll find five buttons. With the Start button, you'll be scanning the document that's sitting on the platen at the moment and automatically sending the scan to the connected device. When that's done, the unit will pause so that you can replace the document on the platen or finish scanning using the aptly named Finish button. With this button, you will close the scanning session and save the document as a PDF file. The third button is the Auto Scan button, automatically detecting the item on the platen, scanning it, and saving the item as an appropriate file type, choosing between searchable PDF, JPEG, TIFF, and PNG image formats. With the Copy button, you can scan the contents atop the platen and send it via the connected device to designated printers. Finally, the Send will ship the scan to designated email addresses or applications. The fact that you can do pretty much everything without even opening the software bundle that comes with the unit is an attractive feature, even though the resources that make this bundle are quite robust.

The Avision BF-1606B is an interesting proposition. On the one hand, most customers usually feel sceptical towards printers/canners that are not made by Epson, Canon, Brother, or HP, let alone some no-name company like Avision. On the other hand, the model offers considerable advantages over its budget counterparts from known brands.

To start with, the model measures 355 x 255 x 46 millimetres, a little less than even the most compact Canon flatbed scanners. What's more impressive though is that the unit weighs less than 1.5 kilogrammes, whereas most models around this size weigh at least around 3-4. In other words, even the scrawniest, least physically-inclined people will be able to move this device even from home to work without any discomfort.

According to the people behind this product, its biggest standout feature is the TWAIN interface, which makes sense considering that the multiple image enhancement resources this interface incorporates, including deskew, automatic cropping, automatic colour correction and colour matching, despeckling, colour dropout adjustment, and more. With this interface, even questionable-looking originals will give you solid scans.

Besides that, the machine can automatically crop multiple images. This feature lets you place different documents (from photos to ID cards and business cards) onto the platen and the device will go to town cropping and creating multiple images in a single scan.

On a less positive note, the model comes fitted with no control buttons, which aids the aesthetics cause, sure, but also means that you can only use the firmware that comes with this device and its UI is muddled and a little clunky, so even experienced users might have a hard time with it initially.

As you would expect, the Canon CanoScan LiDE 300 is not that different from the 400 model, except that this machine is even less expensive but certain features are also lacking. To name one, the model does not enable upright positioning, not the biggest loss since people seldom use that anyway but still something that's worth mentioning. What's a little more concerning is that the maximum optical resolution does not go above 2400 x 2400 dpi, which is not bad but the 400 model doubles that and costs just 20 quid more, making it a more attractive option.

Nevertheless, this one has its advantages as well, not even counting the price. In fact, most home offices and small commercial spaces will find that this device is more than sufficient, digitising photos and enabling light document scanning. Where most applications are concerned, 2,400 dpi is even excessive. Most monitors do not display above 72 dpi, with high-resolution screens not even reaching 100 dpi. The benefit that high-res scanners are offering is that you can crop away more sizable sections and still have enough pixels at your disposal to increase the remaining area's size without degrading the finer details.

Size-wise, measuring 367 x 250 x 42 millimetres, this unit is pretty lean, not unlike its 400 sibling. Of course, again, the difference here is that this one does not include a kickstand that enables using the device upright.